FAQ.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS… ANSWERED.
There are lots of question surfacing around setting up Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Samsung Bixby, Apple Siri, and troubleshooting these devices in Canada. Here are the most frequently asked questions.. and the answers to these FAQs for Canadian users!
There is no charge for using Alexa to make phone calls.
In particular, “calls ” made through the “drop-in” feature and free.
Calls made by pairing your mobile device with Alexa through Bluetooth would be billed based on your particular mobile service fees.
Yes, Alexa skills are free.
However, sometimes there are premium features to an app that accompany a skill, and you have to pay for these features. This is entirely optional and all of the basic Alexa commands and skills have no charge.
Absolutely, Alexa can be used as an intercom! Once you have setup your Echo device to allow for “dropping-in” on other devices (and those people have granted you permission), you can activate the “intercom” by saying:
Alexa, drop-in on [person/room].
Simple!
That depends. It you have paired your Alexa device with your phone, then it should work no problem. On it’s own, Alexa can’t call 911… yet.
That depends what you mean by phone calls. If you enable the option to “drop-in” on other Alexa users, this is possible – it’s kind of like an intercom system.
If you want to make “real” phone calls, then you need to pair your Alexa device with your phone through Bluetooth, and then it should work no problem. See instructions how to pair your phone with Alexa here.
Yes, but is does take a little setting up. First, you need a Bluetooth device that connects to your iTunes library – your mobile phone or laptop should be able to do this.
Turn the Bluetooth on in that device and make sure it is in pairing mode.
Then say
Alexa, pair.
Alexa will detect your device and instruct you to select Echo from the Bluetooth pairing screen. Once your device is paired, you’re ready to go. Just open the app you normally use for iTunes start enjoying the tunes!
No, sadly Alexa cannot play Pandora in Canada. It is currently available to American Alexa users.
Make sure to subscribe to our newsletter and I will keep you updated when this feature becomes available in Canada!
You bet, and there are lots of ways. If the podcast is on Spotify, you can just ask Alexa to play the podcast through spotify. There are also a number of skills that will play podcasts.
My favourite way is to use the AnyPod skill!
Just follow these commands:
1. Alexa, enable AnyPod.
2. Alexa, ask AnyPod to subscribe to Alexa in Canada.
3. Alexa, ask AnyPod to play Alexa in Canada.
It’s that simple!
Can Alexa play Spotify? Absolutely! In fact that is one of the basic functions of Alexa. I go into detail about how to setup Spotify to be your default music player for Alexa in this post.
Absolutely, and it’s really easy if you have a Kindle. Any book that you have downloaded to your Kindle can be accessed through Alexa.
Alexa, read me my book.
Alexa, read me [title].
No, sadly Alexa cannot speak French… yet. But make sure to subscribe to our newsletter and I will keep you updated when she does!
Unfortunately, this option is not yet available in Canada. This is one of the most requested features at this time.
So, make sure to subscribe to our newsletter and I will keep you updated when this feature becomes available in Canada!
It’s true. American users have access to more skills than Canadians do. But as a Canadian, you can access the American skills by following these simple steps. Just keep in mind that you will lose some of the Canadian content when doing this.
- Log off your mobile Alexa app.
- Go to www.amazon.com and create a new account, if you don’t already have one. You will need a US address as part of the registration. You can just make this up if you want.
- Once you have your account setup, logoff.
- Log back on the www.amazon.ca website.
- When logged in, go to “Account & List” drop down and select “Your Account”.
- Under the Digital Content & Devices box, select “Content and devices”. You may be asked to relog in your account. Once re-logged, you should be at the “Manage Your Content and Devices” page and see three tabs at the top (Your Content, Your Devices, and Settings tab)
- Select the “Settings” tab, then change the Country Setting from Canada to the US address you used when you setup your account on the amazon.com website (in step #2). After clicking the update button, a warning will pop up telling you that all your content and devices will be moved to the amazon.com site.
- After moving all your devices to the amazon.com site, re-log in your mobile Alexa app and enjoy having access to a few more music sites and thousands of “Skills” previously unavailable.
Maybe you bought your Echo device in the States. Maybe it was given to you as a gift. Bottom line is you want to convert your American Echo to a Canadian account.
- Log off your mobile Alexa app.
- Go to www.amazon.ca and create a new account, if you don’t already have one. You will need a Canadian address as part of the registration.
- Once you have your account setup, logoff.
- Log back on to the www.amazon.com website.
- When logged in, go to “Account & List” drop down and select “Your Account”.
- Under the Digital Content & Devices box, select “Content and devices”. You may be asked to re-log into your account. Once re-logged, you should be at the “Manage Your Content and Devices” page and see three tabs at the top (Your Content, Your Devices, and Settings tab)
- Select the “Settings” tab, then change the Country Setting from US to the Canadian address you used when you setup your account on the amazon.ca website (in step #2). After clicking the update button, a warning will pop up telling you that all your content and devices will be moved to the amazon.ca site.
- After moving all your devices to the amazon.ca site, re-log in your mobile Alexa app and enjoy having access to Canadian content and skills.
It’s really easy, using the AnyPod skill!
Just follow these commands:
1. Alexa, enable AnyPod.
2. Alexa, ask AnyPod to subscribe to Alexa in Canada.
3. Alexa, ask AnyPod to play Alexa in Canada
It’s that simple!
It’s really simple!
- Click on the Menu button > Settings > Flash Briefing
- Click on “Get more Flash Briefing Content” and search for “Voice in Canada”.
- Click on “Voice in Canada”
- Click the Enable button.
- Done!
Alexa, what are my flash briefings?
Alexa, what’s in the news?
This is a very common question and I cover this in lots of detail in Episode 3 of Alexa in Canada: The Voice Experience.
This seems to be a glitch for some people with setting up the Alexa app. Why it is happening I’m not sure, but this is how to fix it. Follow these steps:
- Log into your Amazon Account on a browser (NOT the Alexa app), click on the “Settings” tab, and then “Manage your content and devices.”
- Change the country settings to “US”. You might have to create a dummy US address for this if no US address is set in your address list. Create any US address.
- Restart the process of connecting the Echo device with your Alexa App but use “English (US)” as your default app language. It will take you through the process of connecting your Echo with your home wifi. (At this point, you will be able to do things on the app as a US Resident.) Once wifi is enabled, the device will download the language pack on its own within about 30 minutes.
- Deregister the Echo device from your Alexa App. Go to “Settings” > [Your Echo Device] > “Device is registered to.” Then deregister the device.
- Change the country settings in your Amazon Account back to ‘Canada’.
- Go through the connection process again through the Alexa App with the Echo but select “English (Canada)” this time and you will be able to connect to the Amazon Canada account. You will now be able to see Canadian skills as well.
Well, there’s no fun in answering this question for you. You’ll just have to ask Alexa!
Unfortunately the short answer is ‘I don’t know’. It really depends on the individual skill, and Amazon doesn’t create most of the skills. Most skills are created by 3rd parties and it is up to these 3rd party developers to bring the skills to Canada. You could always reach out the the developer/company of the skill in question and ask them (i.e. nudge them)!
This means that your Alexa/Echo device is muted. Just push the mute button on top of the device (the button with the microphone icon) and then Alexa will be “all ears.”